The Gift from the Divine
by Marquise de Nile
Summary: [For Madara's birthday 2019] To his closest family, Madara was someone truly special - a gift from the divine. Gen. (OC is Madara's mother)


**The Gift from the Divine**

**.**

_Rei_

Once, Uchiha Rei had been a priestess that lived only to worship the gods. Once, she performed the services, she lit the candles, she danced among the flames, all for them, everything for them. Once.

Now she still prayed to the gods, but never with such a single-minded focus as of late. Because they had abandoned her and turned their faces away so as not to look at her any longer. She fell from their graces and became foul in their eyes.

Gods were punishing her, for she had committed a great sin—she'd left their holy service in the shrine by the sea and married her distant cousin, Uchiha Tajima. He was to lead the clan by his birthright and battle prowess and the elders agreed that the blood of the Uchiha must not be diluted. She had no choice in the matter and yet, she was the only one condemned and paying the price.

The kami looked into her heart and saw that she who belonged to them, loved her husband more. Her selfish desire for family was a betrayal that could not go unpunished. So they devised for her the cruelest retribution possible.

Rei was on her knees before the figures of kami, begging for their forgiveness. She lost all the feeling in her feet some time ago, but she ignored it, just like she ignored the uncomfortable weight of her pregnant belly. Whenever she looked down upon her changed body, softer and heavier than normally, she was filled with unspeakable fear. Not for herself, but for the child growing inside her, a child that didn't have the gods' favour.

Twice she'd been blessed before and twice she'd lost a child before it was even born. She cried her eyes out in sorrow and anguish, her Sharingan spinning and evolving into three comas so she would be haunted by every second of this heartbreak for all eternity. The elders looked at her with angry reproach and the shadows around Tajima grew deeper as he headed out to battle more often. She prayed for him too, in fear that he would make a mistake in his grief and fall to the Senju blade.

Many doctors had seen her but they couldn't find anything wrong with her. However, she already knew that the cause of miscarriage was not of this world. Her babies had been taken from her in retribution by the jealous and vengeful gods of the Uchiha. This was her third one and if she failed to protect him too, she would end her life as well and join her children in the afterlife.

"Please, do not take him, too. Please. Whatever you wish, I will do it, just let this one live," she begged to the kami. "You have taken two, let me have this one. Please."

The gods stayed silent and unmoved. Her prayer didn't reach them. She always had the talent for reading the intentions of the gods, interpreting the signs and portents they gave. She needed to make an appropriate offering to appease them, but she tried everything—she cut her long hair in supplication, she offered the best bounty of the harvest, she even made an animal sacrifice. Nothing was enough.

The kick in her stomach was hard. Rei rubbed on the sore place. Her little boy was going to be a real fighter.

"What do you want from me?" she whispered, thinking out loud. "I know you are angry I abandoned you, but…" she paused as she saw a new path open before her. What was lost, must be restored. She prostrated herself before the wooden statues on the altar.

"Oh great and powerful kami, please let my son live and survive to adulthood. Give him a long and fruitful life. In return, you may do as you like with him. Let him be the instrument of your will in this world. He's yours to dispose as you see fit for he will never truly belong to me, or his father, or the clan. That is my vow."

The candles flickered and she heard a rolling thunder in the distance. The flowers smelled sweeter and she saw that the gods smiled upon her again. They accepted the offering.

Rei's shoulders sagged with relief. She caressed her belly fondly, putting no further thought into what her deal would mean for the little one. Her child would live and that was all that mattered.

She had a moment of panic when she went into labor early, before she remembered herself and entrusted everything to the will of the gods. Her son was born on December 24th, shortly after the winter solstice, bringing hope and new life when the cold winds and long nights disenchanted weary hearts. Rei's hands shook with emotion when she reached out to the crying bundle. Then she took the baby boy into her arms and looked at him in awe. He was small and wrinkled and loud, with two bright red spots on his little cheeks, and he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Tears of equal joy and relief sprung to her eyes and she held the baby closer to her chest.

"I love you," she sobbed. "I love you, my little Madara."

He was her gift from the divine.

.

_Tajima_

It wasn't an understatement to say that Uchiha Tajima's firstborn son was his pride and joy. The boy was everything he ever wanted in a child of his, and more. Madara exhibited prodigious talents from a young age and Tajima ruthlessly took advantage, pushing his son to even further heights. He took him to see battle for the first time after the boy produced the Grand Fireball at age four. Rei protested this vehemently, but she had no say in the matter. The clan needed strong warriors and Madara was quick, strong, smart. He had the potential to surpass every Uchiha in history.

Madara rose to every challenge, overcame every obstacles and became even stronger. Privately, Tajima sometimes thought that his two unborn children had to die for the sake of Madara taking all their strength into himself. There were no more miscarriages after him, but out of Tajima's five sons, he was exceptional, in more ways than one.

No word of complaint ever fell from his mouth, but there were times when Madara looked into the flames and Tajima wondered what he was really thinking about. But those moments passed quickly and he didn't dwell on them. Madara never gave him a reason to worry.

The war with the Senju was escalating and in the brutality, Rei and their three younger sons were lost. That was when Madara became invaluable—he fought harder and longer and killed more enemies than anyone else in the clan. Until eventually, he awakened the power of a god.

When Tajima was struck down by Senju, Madara carried him away from the battlefield. Cradled in his son's arms, Tajima saw his eyes transform into an unknown pattern. He touched his cheek in wonder.

"I leave… everything… to you…" he whispered and smiled with his dying breath, thanking the gods that his dutiful son would lead the clan to sure victory. He'd never been so proud.

.

_Izuna_

When Izuna was a young child, nii-san was a comforting constant. Madara watched over him and their other brothers. Izuna scraped his knee—nii-san had a bandage. He was hungry—nii-san shared his food. He was bored—nii-san told him a story. Madara could do everything and knew everything. He was like an omnipotent, benevolent god and Izuna aspired to be like him some day.

They played and trained and grew stronger together, and then their mother and brothers died. Izuna had to share nii-san with father, but that was alright. Nii-san was learning from him how to take care of their whole clan, not just his little brother. The older Izuna got, the more he realized Madara's hardships and the more energy he put into supporting him.

Their father died too and the times grew darker. Nii-san awakened a power they called Mangekyo Sharingan and read the ancient stone tablet. Izuna was forced to kill his best friend and obtained that power too. But nii-san was still there for him through thick and thin, his strength a constant Izuna could rely on when everything else failed. The war raged on.

As an adult, Izuna thought nii-san was like a storm, an unstoppable force of nature. He made the world tremble before his power. There was nothing he couldn't do, no one he couldn't defeat… except for Senju Hashirama whom for some reason known only to himself Madara did not _want_ to defeat. Izuna guessed that it had something to do with a short-lived acquaintanceship in their childhood. Nii-san was just too kind… and yet, Izuna often thought back on that one time he'd followed him in secret and seen him spar and laugh and talk freely with that Senju. And he wondered quietly to himself if there was something special Madara shared with their enemy that he didn't share with anyone else, even him, his own brother. Izuna never spoke of it, but deep in his heart there was a hidden fear. A fear that Senju Hashirama had been, could be, was closer to nii-san than he was.

Then Madara started to go blind and everything fell apart. The war took a turn for the worse, Senju Tobirama fatally wounded Izuna and the clan was in shambles. So Izuna made the only decision that made sense. On his death bed, he gifted his unbroken eyes to Madara.

It was his turn to watch over and protect nii-san as a part of him. Izuna died happy he did for Madara what no one else could. He gave him a new light to see with and a bright future to walk towards. The rest was in nii-san's hands, but Izuna had faith in him.

Madara would win because he was his nii-san. That was enough of a reason.

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_Madara_

Madara didn't win. He didn't take the clan to victory and he didn't avenge his brother, instead he brokered peace with the Senju. In time, he lost the leadership of his clan. The childhood dream he fulfilled instead of ending wars led to even more conflict and death on a world-wide scale. He lost everyone and everything he ever cared about.

He failed in everything he set out to accomplish.

But he lived a long life. And he had a plan. Long years spent in solitude and darkness bore fruit when he neared death. With awakened Rinnegan he would become a god himself and remake this world.

That was the final dream that he would reach. Without fail.

.

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AN: Happy Birthday to Madara! And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, my readers! Everything I wrote about Madara's mother is my headcanon. I considered writing Hashirama and Obito sections, but I decided this would be a family fic (and I probably wouldn't have finished it in time).

Please review and let me know how you liked the story :)


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